Committees

It had been about two weeks since I became a high school student.

Yes, a whole two weeks. I had been trying to talk to Pina every single day during those two weeks, but she hadn't given me any reaction at all.

I wished she would at least get annoyed or show some kind of reaction. Being completely ignored was just too cruel.

At first, my classmates seemed to pity me, but now they were placing bets on us. It had become a running joke in our class.

Specifically, whether Pina would accept my greeting or not.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority bet on "she won't." (Everyone except Sung, actually. It was depressing as hell.)

But speaking of it being two weeks, do high schools usually wait this long to elect a class president?

Back in middle school, we elected one during the first week of school. Maybe it wasn't a high school thing, but just a quirk of this school?

"Did my cute Class 3 babies pay attention in class today?"

This was how Ms. Hamteri (a nickname I coined because she was cute, petite, and her name was Do Tori, which literally meant 'acorn') greeted us as she walked in for Homeroom Teacher's Discretionary Time.

She wasn't even that much older than us. An eight-year difference, maybe?

For context, our ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠school had a unique feature that set it apart from others: during the first semester of freshman year, the last period on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays was designated as Homeroom Teacher's Discretionary Time.

To put it simply, the homeroom teacher could do whatever they wanted during this period. They could have us do self-study, catch up on lessons, or just use the time to bond with us.

Our school, Yuil High, was actually quite prestigious.

Its university admission rates were among the best in the province, and the academic level was much higher than neighboring schools. I think the school's founding motto was something about providing students with high-quality education.

But how on earth did Kim Dahi get in here? She was a girl who could easily become dumber than a puppy.

"We have something to decide today. We need to choose our committees."

"Committees?"

"Yes. Our school..."

Ms. Tori, you're talking too much. She went on about fostering independence by delegating school chores to students, but in the end, it just meant making us do the dirty work.

What a pain.

Just coming to school and studying should be enough to fulfill a student's duty. Give us our freedom!

"The options are Beautification, Sports, Festival, Class, and Library. Basically, you get to choose, but if too many people apply for one committee, our class will settle it with a time-honored game!"

"Most committee work will be self-directed. Of course, the student council will check in once a month. However, the exceptions are the ones I just mentioned: Festival, Sports, Class, and Library."

"Huh? Why?"

"I'm about to explain, so please listen to the end before asking questions, okay?"

"First, the Festival Committee only operates during the school festival. It has the shortest active period of all the committees, but it's rumored to be the hardest work."

"If things go wrong, the Festival Committee might even have to sleep over at school during the preparation period."

"Next is the Sports Committee. While their official active period is during the sports festival, they often have to help the PE teacher during our regular PE classes."

"The Class Committee, as most of you probably guessed, consists of the class president and vice president. You can imagine what they do, right?"

"Finally, the Library Committee. Honestly, I think the Library Committee is the least physically demanding."

"But you have to go work in the library once a week during lunch. On the bright side, we only need two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people!"

"Alright, that's all the information. Any questions?"

Hmm, the Library Committee sounded like a sweet deal. Couldn't I just quietly go to the library during lunch, read some books, do a tiny bit of work, and then go back to reading?

It was the perfect gig. Judging by the kids' reactions, there would definitely be spots left for the Library Committee.

I'd just quietly sign up for that.

Ms. Tori started filling the committees in order of popularity. Oh, Sung was going for the Sports Committee? That suited him.

Kim Dahi was doing the Festival Committee? Yeah, that fit her too.

A loudmouth like her needed to be involved to make the festival actually fun.

More importantly, which committee was Pina planning to join? She still hadn't raised her hand.

Oh, it was time for the Library Committee. Well, whatever Pina chose didn't matter to me. I should just raise my hand. Wait, what?

"Oh! Alright, Pina and Hanbyul. No one else? Okay! The Library Committee is decided: Pina and Hanbyul."

Seriously? I got paired up with Pina?

Yes! What a stroke of luck. I'd use this opportunity to get at least a little closer to her!

"Hey, Lee Hanbyul. Wipe that smirk off your face. It's disgusting."

"Huh? What did I do, Dahi?"

"Ugh... goosebumps. Don't call me that."

Sure, talk all the trash you want today.

I was in a great mood, so I'd let it slide.

"Ugh, seriously, just looking at your smiling face is annoying."

Today was finally our first day on the Library Committee.

The library duties rotated between the classes.

Since each grade had its own library, they naturally needed a lot of hands.

Anyway, I was finally with Pina...

"Pina, it's lunchtime. Let's go to the library together."

"..."

Was she still on guard?

Well, I did make a pretty bad first impression.

Okay! Today, I'm going to redeem myself no matter what.

Well... I screwed up...

How could she not say a single word to me?

Actually, she did say one thing.

"Could you please refrain from talking about things unrelated to work? I do not wish to speak with you," she had said.

Honestly, how was I supposed to deal with this?

If she flat-out refused to talk, there was no way to start a conversation.

For now, since Pina was reading a book, I decided to quietly wait for an opportunity.

"And it's already been over a month since I made that decision."

But what did she expect me to do! I couldn't see a way through at all.

It was frustrating that things weren't working out. I was in a foul mood, so I couldn't even focus on my book.

I might as well watch some animal videos to cheer myself up.

Huh? How did I have my phone? Well, of course, I had to put in some effort. *Sniff.*

Five minutes before the committee duty, in the staff room:

And that was how it happened. Hmm, I really put in the work. Negotiating for a whole five minutes—I deserve a pat on the back.

Of course, the real reason I got my phone back was to read web novels, but they didn't read well when I was in a bad mood like this. In times like these, watching mindless, cute animal videos was the best.

I started watching them because Kim Dahi did, and they turned out to be surprisingly therapeutic.

As I stared at my phone, wondering what video to watch today, I felt a gaze from beside me.

I turned my head to find Pina staring intently at me. Ah, not at me—she was staring at my phone.

"Why do you have your phone?"

"Ah, the phone? I got permission from the teacher."

"How did you get permission?"

"Well... but wait, weren't we supposed to only talk about things related to work?"

As I said that, her snow-white skin began to flush red. Was she embarrassed because she had broken her own rule?

"I only asked to make sure you weren't violating school regulations. It would be troublesome if your violation affected me as a fellow committee member."

"Ah, is that so?"

If I teased her any further, she would probably get genuinely angry. I briefly explained what had happened in the staff room.

"I-I see... You certainly have a silver tongue."

"Is that a compliment on my speaking skills? Thanks."

"..."

Pina turned her head away after that, seemingly having no intention of continuing the conversation.

I went back to watching my videos. Maybe a cat video today?

"So cute. Look at it loafing. It looks so soft and squishy."

Stare.

"Ah, sorry. Was I too loud? I'll keep it down."

"N-No..."

Even though I stayed quiet, her gaze didn't waver. Huh? Could it be?

I waved my phone side to side.

She couldn't take her eyes off the phone—or rather, the video.

"Do you want to watch it together?"

"...No, I'll pass."

Yet, she still couldn't take her eyes off the screen. Her eyes were sparkling so brightly. She was incredibly cute.

"Come on, let's watch it together."

"I said I'm fine..."

"Take your eyes off the video before you say that."

"Ugh."

"I won't use this as an excuse to force you to talk to me. But in exchange, let me ask you just one question."

"...What is it?"

"Do you like animals? Or do you just really like cats?"

"Are you really okay with a question like that?"

"Yeah. What do you mean ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by that? I'm asking because I'm genuinely curious."

"I like animals."

"I see."

After that, I placed the phone between us, and we watched the videos together.

Ever since that day, watching animal videos during committee time had become a natural routine.

And of course, Pina watching them with me was part of it too. So Pina likes animals...

I should keep that in mind.